Banten
 6 to 7 January 2024

Banten © Banten

ABOUT

With Esplanade’s Visual Arts programme titled “Instrumental Possibility”, BANTEN premiered on the walls of the Esplanade Tunnel. The term "Banten," translated to offerings, embodies the philosophy of Kanda Empat (Four Siblings) — a principle focused on recognizing one's roots and attaining inner harmony.

The creation process involved deconstructing gamelan instruments to form symbols, patterns and gestures associated with Balinese philosophy. Infused with a spiritual dimension and purpose, the aim of the work was to reharmonize and rebalance one's internal world through these symbolic representations.

In this iteration of BANTEN at Goethe Lab, the work fills a three-dimensional space, taking on a dynamic form with an activation of the installation by gamelan musicians. Here, BANTEN becomes an experimental framework set with the aim of extending the conceptual and performative boundaries of traditional gamelan, approaching gamelan and all that it encompasses—its philosophies, aesthetics, and the physical forms of the instruments—as mediums for various modes of expression.

PUBLIC EVENTS

6 – 7 JAN 

Open Studio
6 & 7 January, Saturday & Sunday
2 to 8pm

Performance*
7 January, Sunday
6.30 to 7.30pm

*Audiences should be in the space 10 mins before the show. This is an interactive performance and audiences are free to roam around the space.
 

THE ARTIST

Rosemainy Buang is a gamelan musician, educator, composer, and sound artist from Singapore. With a decade of training in gamelan, she is dedicated to expanding her creative horizons through collaborative projects with other artists from diverse disciplines.

Approaching art-making with a multidisciplinary and experimental attitude, she attempts to question, build upon and expand the limits of traditional soundscapes, philosophies and aesthetics.
 

The Space

136 GOETHE LAB is a new project space at the Goethe-Institut Singapore. Housed in the former library and reading room, the space is intended as a response to the need for physical spaces for the arts, and an ongoing conversation with the public and arts community in Singapore.

BANTEN is supported as part of the open call for 136 GOETHE LAB, which invited applicants to activate the space with a group proposal.